Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert blamed Hamas Tuesday for the deaths of a Palestinian mother and four of her children during a skirmish between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters in the Gaza Strip. The family was preparing to sit down for breakfast Monday in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun when an explosion tore through their house, killing the woman and four children, aged 15 months to 6 years, relatives said. Her two other children were critically injured.
According to the AP, Olmert told his Cabinet at its weekly meeting Tuesday that the deaths were "a tragic event that Israel is deeply sorry for." But he laid the blame on Hamas for allowing gunmen to operate within residential areas and "turning the civilian population in Gaza into an indivisible part of its war." And he vowed that Israel would continue to go after gunmen if they don't halt their attacks.
Egypt has been trying for weeks to arrange a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian groups. Representatives of Palestinian factions were in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss the truce proposal. But Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak dismissed of truce efforts. "I think now we're in a showdown with Hamas," Barak told reporters. "That's a more apt description than a possible cease-fire."
